Monday, October 8, 2007
Prewrite
1. What are you good at?
2. How do you feel when you're doing the thing you're good at?
3. How would you feel if people wouldn't let you do the thing you're good at?

1.I am good at painting my nails.
2.I feel good because if I'm mad I can use black nail polish.
3.If people didn't let me paint my nails I would get so mad and I would I don't know what I would do.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Chapter 1
1. What problems or conflicts are presented in chapter one? Tao needing to find a rabbit is an obvious one; identify at least two more.
2. Predict the resolution of each conflict.

1.Tao didn't want to kill the wolf but his clan needed food.Also he wanted to paint but people didn't let him paint.
2.I think he will find more food for his clan and at the end they will let him paint in the caves.

Chapter 2
1.What two important events happen in this chapter?

1. One important event was that Tao pulled a long silver bone out of the wolf's mouth.Another problem was
that Tao heard a strange noise and he thought that it was an evil spirit.

Chapter 3
1. What do Tao and Ram learn to do together?
2. What decision does Tao tell Volt?
3. Look at Tao's decisions and actions from Volt's perspective. Pretend you are Volt. Write a first person paragraph explaining how you feel.

1.They learn to hunt together.
2.He tells him that he wants to hunt on his own.
3.I would feel like he is hiding something from me and that's why he wants to hunt on his own.

Chapter 4
In a good paragraph, describe Tao's mother. Start with an interest grabber. Then write your topic sentence. Give three details or examples to support your thesis. Use a quotation from the chapter.

1.Tao found out what his mother looked liked.She was kind and talented."All through the long snows she kept
kept you alive" "She too saw pictures in the sky and the meadows". "She made many things from the earth and the
waters."

Chapter 5
1. Which two animals does Tao try to draw?
2. Which is easier for him and why?

1.He tries to draw a horse and Ram.
2.Ram becuase he was looking at him so it is easier for him to draw.

Chapter 6
1. Graybeard realizes that Tao has broken two taboos of his clan. What are they?
2. Which taboo doesn't he know about yet?
3. Graybeard describes Volt differently than we have. What aspects of Volt's character is Graybeard acknowledging?

1.He has a wolvedog and he went to forrbidden land.
2.Graybeard doesn't know about the paintings.
3.He is saying that volt is a good person.

Chapter 7
Write your reaction to the last paragraph in the chapter. Do you agree or disagree with Graybeard? Is what he says true for those times, but not now? Or, is the reverse true: was it not true then, but true now?

I dissagree because you need to do what you want to do and it is unfair that only spacial people get to do it.It was true for those times because now everyone can draw.

Chapter 8
An important theme in this novel is that people should follow their dreams and do what they believe is right, even if they don't follow their society's expected ways.
The author examines this theme in a stone age setting. Imagine a similar situation today.
What situation did you imagine?

I imagine a man workig in a nail salon place.
In the situation you imagined, should the person follow his or her dreams or should they follow society's rules? Give your opinion.
he should follow his dreams because what is wrong with a man working with nails.

Chapter 9
Why do you think Graybeard changed his mind?
What does this tell you about his character?

He probably changed his mind because he knew that Tao wouldn't give up and because he saw the drawings he thought that Tao was pretty good. This shows that Graybeard is a nice guy.

Chapter 10
1. What are the "mountains-that-walk"?
2. What almost happened to Tao?

1. The mountains that walk are like giant mammoths that live there.
2.Tao almost died because a giant hoarse almost killed him.

Chapter 11
Do you think Graybeard is a good teacher? Why?
Would you like to have been taught a skill by him? Why?

1.Yes,because Tao is learning and Tao is happy with him.
2.No because I can't take take teachers that yell.

Chapter 12
1. Name some of the ingredients used to make paint. Which surprised you most?
2. Why is Tao afraid at the end of the chapter?

1.Some of the ingredients were animal fat, fish oil, and blood.What suprised me the most was the fat.
2.he was worried about gray beard.

Chapter 13
1. Even if Ram had succeeded in hunting the deer, do you think it was a good idea of Tao's to "show off" his dog's ability to hunt? Explain.
2. Predict what will happen next. If you've read ahead, invent an alternate scene.

No because if he didn't show off nobody would have seen Ram.
I think what will happen is that he will cross the river and his clan will desert him.

Chapter 14
1. Why does Tao cross the river?
2. What decision does Graybeard reach?

1.He crosses the river to get Ram.
2.Gray beard tells him to paint in the Cave.

Chapter 15
What problem does Tao have by the end of the chapter

Tao doesn't know which way to go.

Chapter 16
Look at the website of the Laxcaux Caves: http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/ Find a picture that resembles the one Tao is painting. Copy it as your answer to this question.
Aurochs panel
Aurochs panel

Chapter 17
Wow! What a chapter! What was your reaction? Tense? Surprised? You predicted it? Write a paragraph describing your reaction.
I thought he was going to die because of the sacred saxon!It was unbelievable!

Chapter 18
Why does Tao feel he needs to go to the Mountain People?

So he can paint in the caves.